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Women’s Volleyball Set For Final Four Matchup vs. Washington

The No. 2 Penn State women’s volleyball team will compete in its sixth Final Four in the last seven years tonight. The Nittany Lions are set to take on Pac-12 champion Washington, who will travel just four miles from campus to KeyArena in Seattle, the host of the tournament. The Nittany Lions come into the match with a 32-2 record and have won 23 matches in a row. Here’s what you need to know ahead of Penn State’s biggest match of the season thus far.

How did we get here?

The Nittany Lions defeated Stanford last weekend in a close, 3-2 match to win the Lexington, Kentucky regional, finally pulling ahead in the fifth set after a back-and-forth battle. Deja McClendon was named the regional’s Most Valuable Player in her homecoming to Kentucky, as the Louisville native recorded 21 kills and 16 digs in the win over the Cardinal.

Washington comes into the match also with a 32-2 record, and an 18-2 record in the Pac-12. The Huskies defeated USC in the Los Angeles regional last week to advance to the Final Four. It was the first time that Washington had overcome a two-set deficit this season.

Junior Krista Vansant, the 2013 Pac-12 Player of the Year, recorded 38 kills and 30 digs against the Trojans, the first time a Washington Husky has tallied those numbers in NCAA tournament history. Vansant has recorded 504 kills this season while hitting .323 and is averaging 4.46 kills per set. Junior Kaleigh Nelson recorded 14 kills against the Trojans, and provides a power one-two punch for the Huskies up front.

Matchup to watch:

Most teams, including Penn State, run a “5-1” offense, which means that they use only one setter. Because the setter runs the offense, she doesn’t usually attack, and when she rotates into the front row, the team is down one hitter. Washington is unique in that it runs what is called a “6-2” offense, meaning that the team uses two setters. Running this type of offense ensures that Washington will always have a full offense of three hitters in the front row, as the setters substitute in and out for each other so they are always in the back row.

Because they will always be facing a full set of three hitters, Penn State’s blocking must be as good as it has been all year to make it to the championship. Luckily, the Nittany Lions are one of the better blocking teams in the country, recording just over three blocks per set on the season. Keep on eye on the matchup between Penn State opposite hitter Megan Courtney and middle hitter Katie Slay vs. Washington’s Vansant. The combination of Courtney and Slay are averaging 2.37 blocks per set, while Vansant is averaging 4.46 kills. The winner of that matchup will likely determine who advances to the national championship match on Saturday night.

TV information:

The match will be broadcast live on ESPN2 at 9:30 p.m. EST. The winner of this match will face the winner of the Texas/Wisconsin matchup, which will be played at 6:30 p.m.

Other:

It’s safe to say the team had a fun time traveling to Seattle.

Photo by: Dean “The Voice” DeVorePhoto by: Erica Denney

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About the Author

Alex Robinson was Onward State's Acting Managing Editor/Resident Old Man. He lived in Harrisburg almost his whole life, but he says he's from California -- where he was born -- because that's more fun. He loves cats and Chinese food, but only separately. He met both Ben Affleck and Kanye West within a half hour, so the three of them are basically best friends. If you want to hear his #scorching #hot #takes, you can follow him at @ARobinsonPSU or email him at [email protected]

Former Penn State women’s gymnastics head coach Jeff Thompson has filed a lawsuit against the university following the termination of his contract in February 2017. Thompson, alongside his wife and associate head coach Rachelle Thompson, was accused by former gymnasts and an assistant coach of creating a hostile team environment. The Thompsons allegedly pressured athletes to compete […]

The lab uses a combination of human genomics, computational biology, and functional studies, using Drosophila and human cell lines, to understand the risks caused by genetic mutations and to grasp how gene disruption leads to altered neurodevelopment.